Abstract

The 17-year (1982–1998) trend in surface temperature shows ageneral cooling over the Antarctic continent, warming of the seaice zone, with moderate changes over the oceans. Warming of the peripheralseas is associated with negative trends in the regional sea ice extent.Effects of the Southern Hemisphere Annular Mode (SAM) and the extrapolarSouthern Oscillation (SO) on surface temperature are quantified throughregression analysis. Positive polarities of the SAM are associatedwith cold anomalies over most of Antarctica, with the most notableexception of the Antarctic Peninsula. Positive temperature anomaliesand ice edge retreat in the Pacific sector are associated with El-Ni�oepisodes. Over the past two decades, the drift towards high polarityin the SAM and negative polarity in the SO indices couple to producea spatial pattern with warmer temperatures in the Antarctic Peninsulaand peripheral seas, and cooler temperatures over much of East Antarctica.